Will collect taxes from those earning over Rs. 1.2 mn per year
Opening tax file, PIN required for all over 18 Years
Finance State Minister Shehan Semasinghe announced that the Finance Ministry has set a target for the Inland Revenue Department (IRD) to increase the number of personal tax files from 500,196 to 1 million by the end of this year.
The idea behind this is to increase the number of taxpayers, which will ultimately lead to a reduction in the tax burden and an expansion of the tax base.
In 2019, there were 1.7 million private income tax files, but this number decreased to 570,000 in 2021 and 204,467 in 2022. However, the Inland Revenue Department was able to increase the number to 500,196 in 2023.
The State Minister stressed that opening a tax file and obtaining a Personal Identification Number (PIN) is required for everyone over 18 years, but this does not necessarily mean that everyone is liable to pay taxes. The Inland Revenue Department will only collect taxes from individuals earning more than Rs.1.2 million per year.
The State Minister added that new Inland Revenue Department Commissioner Sepali Chandrasekara and all officers of the department has been entrusted with a task of increasing the number of tax files to 1 million this year.
Jayasiri Munasinghe